The Talents of Ezhara
Darius Basho and Darius Bieran Life of Basho The Suzuraigan artist Darius Basho was born in a near-dying state as a result of an inherited blood condition, but with the help of Dr. Mercy Yeung, was able to make a recovery, now needing only blood transfusions to ensure that his blood is always fresh, pure, and functional. He is even a soccer player now, showing his willpower to overcome his unfortunate situation and make something new out of it. Despite being a Suzuraigan, Darius is best known for his pale red hair not unlike the light red watercolors sometimes seen in his artwork. Just the same, his deathly pallor has remained even after hours of soccer, which only serves to contrast alluringly with his usual attire of a black school uniform. His peculiar accent is based on a mix between Scottish and Brooklyn despite being from a more Asiatic background. Namely, Darius's "I" sound generally becomes an "oi," and he generally omits "t" sounds, creating a rough sound. Compared to his gentle, slightly effeminate voice and aesthetic personality, his iconic accent is hardly thematically appropriate, but it has nonetheless remained. One of Darius's motifs are his Daruma dolls — Japanese dolls where one paints an eye to make a wish, and then paints the other after the wish succeeds. These serve to characterize his wishes and himself; out of his countless dolls, most are made for others, with only two for himself, one remaining unfilled until years later. The other selfish wish, to be free of his sickness, would be fulfilled upon his death, but his wish to see Al and Anastasia, two friends that he left behind, would remain unanswered until eleven years later, when his reincarnation Darius Bieran uses his old home as a base of operations for his photography and stumbles upon his old life's previous friends. The second of Darius's motif is his umbrella-paintbrush, an odd, customized tool that is not an effective parasol beyond for aesthetic. However, it does serve to somewhat protect his pale skin, though he more often uses it for painting watercolors. Lastly, osmanthus serves as his third motif, since it was the flower that preserved his ancestor, for a few years, from the same sickness that he now carries. Life of Bieran Darius Bieran would be born shortly after Basho's death late in the night. Raised in the chaos of the Ezharan Civil War, Bieran's family would live in what he recalled as "bloo'y nummin' oisolation" in a bunker, where his parents were more concerned with living than Darius himself. With nothing to do, he grew up staring at the ceiling, wondering, thinking, dreaming. Slowly, his dreams dominated his life. As long as he wasn't doing anything, though, his parents were content to let him be. As soon as he could walk, he was playing with his father's camera, not quite sure what it was. By the time he was five, his parents moved back into the relatively-peaceful city of Woroshire. At this point, Darius was taking photographs for hours daily, but his dreaming nature remained. Often, his teachers had to speak up at him to get him to awaken from his dreaming stupors, and he admits that most of the time, he just didn't want to listen to them. Other kids tried to get close to him, but oftentimes he didn't want to talk, and would reenter his dream world after waving them away. In more recent years, he has developed an amusing habit of using his photographs to express his displeasure, and has a technique to flip a photograph from his pockets to his fingers while walking to indicate that he doesn't feel like talking. Amanda Sarana, a singer of the Garden of Hope, is the only one that can get to him and shake him out of his dreams, in part because they are aware of each other's mutual crushes. However, in an attempt to challenge her social anxiety, Bieran claims that he's waiting for her to admit it, and that he's not scared to say it at all — love needs change to make you into a better person, so she needs to change to be a better person, right? He can't do everything for her, so she needs to say it, since he knows that he can do it without a doubt weighing on him. Personalities Despite their young age, both Dariuses are fairly mature, and certainly fit their titles as Ezharan Talents, a term used to describe each generation's popular child-artists, whose artistic abilities are cultivated in supportive communities in hopes that they will be the ones to lead the future. Namely, Basho made a million Anzhems before even leaving elementary, and Bieran is the promising photographer-in-training for the Garden of Hope, and has crafted exquisite photographs for them. His title is little more than a formality, and any other photographers will find that he much prefers discussing their work over introductions or "silly ol' e'iqut'e" (silly old etiquette). However, his superb photography has resulted more so from hours of dedicated photography on a daily basis, and he is certainly not the most phenomenal photographer yet. With the amount of time he spends taking pictures, though, one can expect that he will be within a few years. Indeed, both are unafraid to speak their mind to varying degrees of eloquence, and are behave in dreamlike ways; they are easily-distracted by potential inspiration for their artwork, often wandering and refusing return. Darius Basho in particular was infamous for his bold nature, forgetting meetings, dinners, and offers by the tiniest bits and pieces of inspiration. Eventually, he would come back to the discussion, but schedules were more often guidelines. Darius Bieran, on the other hand, has what some believe to be maladaptive daydreaming, and easily loses track of time while he constantly paces, enraptured in his thoughts and dreams. Though he rarely describes them to others, popular belief claims that they are him reliving Darius Basho's life. Only, what if he outlives Basho? What then becomes of his strange dreams? Darius Basho was known for a close affinity to death, going so far as to affectionately call out to "Mista Death," and he was known to direct diary entries and whole pieces or collections of art to him. His illness meant that he was never supposed to grow up, that he should have swiftly met his end, but he did not until the Ezharan Civil War. Indeed, even before death, he was known to adore a cursed Suzuraigan song featuring a child's dying wish for his parents to not worry, and he often quoted its title when others were baffled by his behavior. Likewise, much of his artwork features injured characters, albeit depicted in a cutesy style. He would represent their troubles in highly abstract ways, but always showed, or at least planned to show, that someone would help them get better. He was also unafraid to speak out politically like his parents, who fled Suzurai with information concern a group that planned a revolution, one that would become the Ezharan Civil War, and one that had earlier poisoned the Winter's Ball event. To his parents' displeasure, he heard their discussion and demanded to take part. Even despite his parents' rightful concern, Darius was unwilling to stand by and integrated his opinions into his Woroshirian art gallery when they fled to that city. Most failed to acknowledge the political messages, but he had managed to tell the ASB president of the Leonardo School of the Arts, who unveiled the truth in a stirring speech once he found out that Darius was entombed within his own house, fated to die from his inherited disease. Despite his brusque attitude towards his relationship with Amanda, Bieran knows that if he loves her, it'll be hard to admit it, and he definitely is afraid. As someone who is normally unabashed in voicing his opinions, his inability for he himself to really admit it is a shameful stroke of irony. That said, he still feels that it'll matter more if she says it, and besides, he still thinks they're a bit young to get started on anything serious. Darius Basho, on the other hand, had no such relationship, or at the very least none that he cared to express. All of his friends were just that: friends. Even Anastasia, who gave him his funeral rites, attracted little more than Basho's usual life-loving happiness. Love wasn't necessary to him, and though he understands its importance, nobody had ever caught his eye before his death. He didn't really care, though, and didn't consider love much of a necessity in his life yet. Victor Makkabaioi The Caleon-born artist for the Garden of Hope, Victor Makkabaioi was a promising artist in the Leonardo School of the Arts, and was known for his bright personality. Though the war caused him to lose a great deal of vitality and growth to an early, but tragically curable, disease, he remained cheerful even then, often using bright, solid colors in his artwork as a promise for a better future. Whereas Blozzom is the symbol of hope for the rest of society, Victor is considered the group's binding factor, as all of them are united in believing that he deserves better, looking up to him and the wisdom that occasionally comes out of him, and adoring his child-like size and nature, though he is in truth around the same age as Blozzom. He is known to occasionally burst into tears, and one such incident resulted in Blozzom having to comfort him in front of a crowd, an action that naturally gave her a huge boost to her reputation. Considered the reincarnation of Darius Basho by most others, though they would have existed at the same time, making this claim dubious. Gregory Xanthos Gregory Xanthos, an as-of-yet undiscovered Talent in Ezhara, is hardly well-known, but he doesn't mind at all. With the wounds and bandages that sadly adorn his body, he has seen the negative side of attention, and thus much prefers his relative obscurity. Yet, beneath his meek personality is a tenacious will to write — and write Gregory has, devoting hours daily to telling some strange story that merely emboldens his bullies. Still, he pushes onward, not caring for his ravaged self, for he does not wish for his father, Kenneth Xanthos, to have to waste time protecting him when their own household is unstable enough. Indeed, Gregory and his father share an unbreakable bond with one another in their destitute conditions, for they are too prideful to accept what they deem charity. Despite his scars, Gregory is unafraid to show them, for he has a vague sense that he may not be able to escape it — and besides, long pants makes it hard to run around. Towards his father, Gregory simply assures them that he just falls down from time to time, never willing to reveal the truth for fear that it would stress his last remaining parent even more. However, he refuses to fight back against his bullies, refuses to embrace the hatred that would put him once and for all under the control of another; as his father says, those who resort to violence to tell someone something, don't know what they're saying. He is often seen in a patchwork hoodie, a muddy brown instead of the striking blue of before, and his legs are patched up from particular incidents with his bullies. However, he is best identified by his blonde, almost lemon-yellow hair, and his green eyes always seem to be shining with vitality, whether by the fringe of hair reflected within them, or by the bright citrus within his hand. Early Life Things seemed normal at first for the Xanthos family, and Gregory was set to receive a beautiful childhood until his mother died from a car accident when he was five. From then on, the household was unable to support themselves on the meager income of one parent, and despite the famed communal spirit of Ezhara, there is no method to helping someone who does not wish to be helped, for the Xanthos family came from a legacy of strength, of independence. They received a few hidden gifts, of course, but there was something deeply admirable about the Xanthos family's willpower that made others obey their strange wish. Childhood With his patchwork hoodie, shy blonde hair, and meekness, Gregory was already the odd one out, and it only became worse when he became older. He became increasingly enamored by citrus fruits, praising the "life within them," especially of the ones that grew in his backyard year-round as a popular snack for passerby. Something within him awoke whenever he ate citrus — shortly thereafter, he would have surges of brilliant creativity, yet also of sadness, for his mother's death had never left him despite his young age. He felt empty without her; though he and his father had mostly suffered in silence, they had both found strength in one another in keeping her memory alive. Thus, he wrote countless poems and stories in her honor, and his father has found a striking resemblance between his late wife's writing and his son's. Even though he has had a few thousand hours at best, it seems that she is still guiding his hand, and at school, Gregory believes that everything that he does, every word he writes, every passage he composes, every second he lives, it is in her memory. Relationship with his father Gregory shares an earnest relationship with his father, who always finds ways to turn their household life into valuable experiences for his son, often cooking food together and tending their backyard garden. Indeed, sometimes his father returns home to soup hot on the stove and a bowl of fresh citrus on the table, for Gregory is well aware of his father's utter devotion, and how much he wants to protect his son, wants to ensure a brighter future for him.He is well aware that his father lies to achieve this goal, to give off the illusion that they are better than they actually are, and Gregory admires this unflinching resolve within his father, and only wishes that he would take better care of himself. On the other hand, Kenneth lives mostly for his son. Without a wife to care for him, and distrustful of a babysitter, he has been seen less and less by most of his friends, who have only managed to force him to go out when they can find someone to care for Gregory. Here, though, Kenneth has shown that he is not so daft to not enjoy himself, though he refuses to drink alcohol, not wanting to return home a filthy drunk to his pride and joy. At work, Kenneth is a prized worker, again in devotion for his son. His son was much too quick-witted when it came to his mother's death, though, so for all of Kenneth's lies, that was one that was seen through in an instant. However, they have turned out to be each other's greatest allies in their healing processes, albeit never to the extent of outright codependency. For them, there is something special about a sliced-up lemon, something that reinvigorates the soul, something that reminds one to keep going.Category:Ezhara